A Palestinian terrorist was stopped short of killing innocent Israeli civilians after his bomb malfunctioned and exploded before planned.

After the bomb went off near a bus stop near Haifa, the Palestinian terrorist was injured, but survived the blast.

Last night Israeli TV showed how the IDF (Israel's Defense Forces) used the above robot to immobilize the terrorist. An Israeli soldier was then able to search the Palestinian terrorist for other explosives. When none were found, a medic took care of the terrorist and he was taken to a nearby Israeli hospital.

A terrorist’s plan to blow himself up aboard a bus in the Afula area was foiled yesterday when the bomb he was carrying exploded prematurely at a bus stop near the Megiddo junction.

The would-be suicide bomber, apparently from the Jenin area, was badly wounded.

Two soldiers standing nearby escaped unhurt, although one of them was knocked down by the blast and later had to be treated for shock.

The terrorist was prevented from trying to detonate the device a second time by the determined action of a police officer.

A robot then dragged the partially disabled terrorist some 30 meters from the bus stop, while he struggled to free himself from its metal arm.

The abortive attack took place 12 hours after a Hamas suicide bomber, apparently from the Gaza Strip, blew himself up in a crowded casino on the third floor of a commercial building in Rishon Lezion’s new industrial area.

Fifteen people were killed in the Rishon Lezion attack, and another later died of her wounds in hospital. More than 50 were wounded. Some 40 of them were still in five hospitals in the Dan region yesterday. Fifteen were in serious-to-critical condition.

Police believe the bomber was either familiar with the casino or was taken there by somebody who was.

European Union envoy Miguel Moratinos went to the scene of the bombing yesterday and condemned the suicide attack.

"I want to express the horror and full condemnation of this terror act. The European Union has been very clear to condemn all acts of terror. There is not good or bad terror, there is only one terror, and we should all together fight against terror," he told reporters.

"That means also that we must not forget that in fighting against terror we have to fight for some peace initiative, and we shall continue our work."

The Palestinian Authority and Chairman Yasser Arafat denounced the attack, saying it is counterproductive, coming at a time when Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was meeting in Washington with US President George W. Bush.

Security measures were boosted throughout the country, especially in the capital, where 6,000 police were on duty for Jerusalem Day, in the North, and along the Green Line.

Northern Region police chief Cmdr. Ya’acov Borovsky told reporters after the Megiddo bombing attempt that security forces had been on alert for the past few days, amid intelligence alerts of pending attacks.

According to police, the case the terrorist was carrying contained eight to 10 kilograms of explosives, which would have had terrible consequences in the enclosed space of a bus.
Instead, the device only partially detonated while the 19-year-old terrorist was waiting to board a bus to Afula.

A short time earlier, a woman soldier at the scene apparently warned those at the stop about the suspicious looking man with the bag.

The explosion occurred just moments afterward and was heard by police nearby. Supt. Yehuda Peretz was among the first on the scene.

"There appeared to have been an explosion at the bus stop. I saw a man acting in a dangerous and threatening manner, and I fired in the air to stop him," he told reporters.

The entire area was cordoned off as sappers dealt first with the terrorist and then the bomb he had been carrying. It was later blown up by the sappers.

After several hours of painstaking work, it was ascertained the terrorist did not have any explosives strapped to his body. He was taken to Ha’emek Hospital in Afula, where he underwent surgery. The hospital reported he is in serious condition

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